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A same-sex kiss between Doctor Who actresses Neve McIntosh and Catrin Stewart was edited out of the series eight premiere for broadcasts in conservative Asian countries.

The lingering lip-lock between McIntosh's lizard-woman Madam Vastra and her human wife Jenny Flint, played by Stewart, prompted a handful of complaints from U.K. viewers when the episode in question, titled Deep Breath, aired last month, but British TV watchdogs at Ofcom declined to launch an investigation into claims the footage was "gratuitous" and "unnecessary", insisting they "do not discriminate between scenes involving opposite sex and same sex couples".

However, the same scene had to be cut from Peter Capaldi's debut as the Time Lord for broadcast in countries like Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore to ensure the cult sci-fi show did not fall foul of the region's strict decency standards.

A BBC spokesperson tells PinkNews.co.uk, "In order to comply with broadcast regulations in Asia where our BBC Entertainment channel airs, BBC Worldwide made a brief edit to the first episode of Doctor Who Series 8, but did so without detracting from the storyline."